Rise and Shine
by ilovetvalot
Summary: Written for the March Challenge on Chit Chat on Author's Corner. There's nothing more difficult that waking a reluctant man on his day off.


_**Author's Note: Hi, ya'll. There are so many exciting things going on over at "Chit Chat on Author's Corner" forum this week! First, we have a brand new April challenge up for those that wish to participate. All the details can be found there, but basically, sign up to write your favorite character. You'll be assigned a random Original Character to pair them with in some capacity. For example, sign up with "David Rossi" and you might be assigned the OC of the second Mrs. David Rossi. Sign-ups are through March 31,2012.**_

_**Also, there's a brand new "Author of the Week" thread and this week our spotlight is on the fabulous jekkah. And, we've added a new discussion thread, "The OCs of Criminal Mind" for productive conversation regarding original characters.**_

_**Fortune Cookie Friday prompts are up for your consideration. And, we'd still like to hear from you on the idea of a Criminal Minds Fanfiction Reading Day. The idea is to choose one Sunday a month to set aside for reading and reviewing the many fantastic stories in the CM fandom. Swing by and comment on any of our discussion threads. We'd love to have you.**_

_**And a supersized thank you to everyone reading, reviewing, favoriting and/or alerting our work. We appreciate each one of you. Feel free to friend us on facebook at either "Ilovetvalot Fanfiction" or "Tonnie Fanfiction". We've got several fun things going on there too and a whole host of uber-talented author and reader friends chatting.**_

_**As always, Happy Reading!**_

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_**This story was written for the March Challenge on CCOAC forum. My assigned pairing was Reid & Hotch. Prompts were exams, dirty snowbanks, spring cleaning and tulips. I hope you like it.**_

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**Rise and Shine**

He stood framed in the bedroom doorway, eyeing his prey with calculating eyes. He knew his quarry was resistant to change, but they'd put off today's task much too long already. Keeping one eye on the man sprawled face down in his pillow and holding his bribe in front of him with a steady hand, he approached the bed.

Perching on the side of the bed, he waved the mug in a circular motion, fanning the fumes of chicory goodness with one hand. "Aaron," he called softly, frowning when the prone man remained utterly motionless. He almost felt bad for waking him. After all, Aaron wasn't a man that found the opportunity to sleep in very often. With Jack away for the weekend and the team on stand-down, however, the rare chance had presented itself. Maybe he should let the older man sleep, he thought with an inward groan.

One look around the bedroom changed his mind.

Boxes were stacked in every available corner. His entire life was shoved haphazardly around the condo. And it had been for over a month. The only organized room in the small home was Jack's.

And now, he found that he was envious of a seven year old.

When he'd accepted Aaron's invitation to move in, he'd imagined their lives merging in perfect harmony. He certainly hadn't thought that after three weeks, he'd need to go on a scavenger hunt to find his socks each morning. And it was that memory that propelled him onward, nudging Aaron's shoulder with his hip.

"C'mon, Aaron. Rise and shine," he called insistently, waving his hand over the cup of coffee with renewed vigor. "I have an incentive," he sang helpfully, lowering the steaming mug toward Aaron's face, "It's that special blend that I know you like so much. I braved piles of dirty snow banks and freezing temperatures to get it for you. Believe me when I say, tiptoeing through tulips would have been much easier," he added pointedly, bumping one muscled arm again.

"Spencer," Hotch groaned hoarsely, his voice thick with sleep as he cracked one heavy eyelid to squint at the red numbers of the alarm clock, "It's barely seven in the morning."

"I know," Reid replied eagerly, relieved to know that he'd finally managed to breach Hotch's consciousness. "I've been awake since five."

"Doing what?" Hotch moaned, flopping onto his back as he forced both his eyes open, and immediately regretting the effort.

"Making lists…getting your coffee…making more lists," Reid said enthusiastically, bouncing slightly up and down on the mattress.

Reaching for the steaming mug, Hotch hitched his body up in bed, leaning against the headboard as he took his first careful sip of coffee of the day. "It's hours too early for lists of any kind. Especially those that involve me leaving the warmth of this bed." He yawned, stretching one arm over his head as the sheet fell around his waist.

Ignoring the open invitation to join him in bed that flashed in his partner's eyes, Spencer shook his head vigorously as he wagged a long, skinny finger. "Oh, no! You promised, Aaron. You swore we'd tackle the spring cleaning this weekend while Jack was away at his grandparents. I can quote you word for word…"

"That was before I realized that we still had a couple of weeks before spring is truly sprung," Hotch interrupted with a grin, reaching out with practiced ease to grab Reid's wrist. "Come back to bed, Spencer," he ordered smoothly.

"No," Reid denied, tugging back his arm and taking a step backwards, well aware that he had to move out of the firing range if he was to be successful in his mission. "Absolutely not. Either you help me or I will take it upon myself to sort through all these boxes. And I'll start in the garage with _your_ boxes," he threatened. "I was scouting around in there and found some of your old exams from college. I think Morgan would be very interested to know just how well you did in _Women's_ Studies. I read your paper on dissecting the female mind, too. JJ and Emily would be flattered to know some of your theories on the woman's psyche. And by the way, how exactly did you fail Golf 101? Even I could play golf…"

"Since when do you snoop?" Hotch asked sternly, flushing with embarrassment as he dropped his coffee to the bedside table, the cup landing with a clatter.

"Since I can't find the box with my extra underwear packed in it," Reid replied with a twinkle in his eyes. "Desperate times called for desperate measures…measures that proved to be in vain," he added unhappily with a glare toward Aaron.

His gaze shimmered in the early morning sunlight as his eyes slowly slid down Reid's body. "Are you telling me that the very proper Dr. Spencer Reid is commando under the khakis?" Aaron grinned, looking almost boyish as he turned to his side in bed.

Reid shook his head, taking another involuntary step backwards. "I don't think I like that look in your eyes."

"No, you love this look in my eyes." Hotch grinned, reaching forward to hook his fingers in Reid's black belt before his prey could escape the snare. "C'mere."

"Aaa-ron," Reid whined, when Hotch pulled at his belt, toppling him over his lover's broad chest. "This is not conducive to finding my underwear," he complained as Hotch's lips found his neck.

"You're right, but it is conducive to you losing your pants," Aaron chuckled against Reid's cheek. "And believe me, underwear would only hamper the experience."

Sighing as he relaxed against the older man, Spencer knew he couldn't fight a playful Aaron Hotchner. He could hold his own against most any other mood the complicated man that he loved presented, but not carefree. It was too rare and special an occasion not to enjoy completely. Gasping a little as Aaron's talented hand quickly slid past the meager defenses his belt and pants provided him, he couldn't help laughing when Hotch shimmied under the covers calling, "Rise and shine, Little Spencer."

And with one last glance around the room, Spencer decided to ignore the scattered boxes. Cleaning and unpacking could wait.

Why not put off the boxes you could do tomorrow for the man you could do today?

_**Finis**_

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_**Take a moment and leave a comment if you have time. I'd love to hear from you.**_


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